kby
Full Member
Posts: 162
|
Post by kby on Jan 11, 2008 19:15:13 GMT
I couple of weeks is probably right, although right now mine seem to be in dormancy so that they are growing but very slowly (they are in a cold room with lights but we don't drop to freezing). Not a Number: Interesting that Cook's is your source--how's your light? I ask because I got one same place about maybe a couple months later and I would but the coloration somewhat between "crimson pitcher" and "red keel" in that the hood, fangs, and about half-way down are pretty much red on new pitchers. Mine sent up one large pitcher after I first got it which got burnt on top when the 90w equivalent CFL flood I use to provide lighting fell enough to rest on it for a day and I didn't catch it ( ). Since then it's put up maybe 4 smaller pitchers (but larger than the small ones it came with; it had also had two "taller" ones; meaning, like yours, about 6") but now I see new growth but it's not moving very fast.-kby
|
|
|
Post by Not a Number on Jan 11, 2008 22:16:31 GMT
Mine is dormant as well. It came from Cook's with almost no red except a few "bruise" spots here and there. It only gets afternoon sun and it came potted (that's all they had when I bought it). I left it in the dark green pot shaded behind some Sarracenia to keep from overheating. So it gets perhaps 2-4 hours of partially shaded sunlight a day. It put up maybe 4-6 new pitchers before going dormant, mostly larger than what came with it.
I'll repot it in couple months.
|
|
kby
Full Member
Posts: 162
|
Post by kby on Jan 11, 2008 23:06:29 GMT
Mine came with at least one tiny pitcher that was red hood. I can't remember what the two larger ones were but at least one of them the fangs were read. They're both brown on top now so I can't tell, of course. The "large" new one that came up was greener, I think. The "smaller" new ones were short but had relatively large hoods for the height and were red on top. I'll see if I can get a pic.-kby
|
|
vraev
Full Member
Posts: 171
|
Post by vraev on Jan 12, 2008 6:29:45 GMT
Thanks for the replies guys. I actually use a pressurised sprayer can near the base of the plant to flush water through the roots. My media is pretty open so I am guessing that this should be cooling enough??
|
|
vraev
Full Member
Posts: 171
|
Post by vraev on Jan 12, 2008 20:22:45 GMT
Hm.....BTW.....Do u think I should give it a forced dormancy in the fridge? Or can I grow it this year without one? I mean I just got it in october. It hasn't literally grown.....except for the thing I see now...tiny red baby pitchers emerging.
|
|
|
Post by Not a Number on Jan 13, 2008 0:31:46 GMT
If you're flushing water over the roots constantly that should be plenting of cooling. How old are the plants? It could be they were already or soon went dormant when you got them - thus no or little growth. If the plant is starting to grow now I'd just follow the cues it is giving you and let it go.
|
|
vraev
Full Member
Posts: 171
|
Post by vraev on Jan 13, 2008 3:02:41 GMT
I am not doing it constantly...I do it atleast twice a day. i.e., morning and at night once the lights go off. I don't know how old these are....they are seedlings from a friend who gave them as a gift. But I am guessing 2 yrs based on the size.
|
|
vraev
Full Member
Posts: 171
|
Post by vraev on Jan 14, 2008 4:24:50 GMT
here is better pics from today lol! its just the pic....the plant isn't at THAT bad of an angle.
|
|
kby
Full Member
Posts: 162
|
Post by kby on Jan 15, 2008 19:19:55 GMT
OK, here is a not-very-good picture, but it does show the difference between red and green, at least: The completely brown head poking toward the front and the other one were on the plant (but not brown) when I got it, plus at least one really tiny one that's not visible. I think the others (with one possible exception I can't remember) have grown since then (I'm guessing 3-4 months).-kby
|
|
vraev
Full Member
Posts: 171
|
Post by vraev on Jan 21, 2008 2:35:38 GMT
Well! one thing is for sure. My cobra is alive and finally growing. here is a pic I just took. I tell ya....its good to see the thing spring to life after 4 months of adjustment. Phew! Can't wait to see how big this pitcher grows.
|
|
kath
Full Member
Posts: 79
|
Post by kath on Apr 1, 2008 2:48:50 GMT
I put my Darlingtonia Californica seeds in the fridge two days ago... I plan to leave them in for 6 weeks. I know everyone says 4 weeks, but the grower I got them of advised 8 weeks, so I comprised and went for the middle. Besides, 2 extra weeks won't hurt them, will it?
I only planted 34 seeds exactly (I counted them and placed them individually, 1 by 1)
Even though everyone says that as seedlings Darlingtonia do not need as cold a soil temperatures, and that cool soil temperatures are over-rated, but I've decided I want to grow my Darlingtonia with full sun but cool soil temperatures, to see if they grow better... has anyone else tried this?
I've been reading up on the natural habitats of Darlingtonia, does anyone have any links to sites? All the support I can get is good! Darlingtonia are rarish here in NZ, your looking at up to 40$ for a single, 2 year old plant, although adult plants aren't much more expensive...
Anyway, my plan of keeping the roots cool begins with the seedlings. I plant to keep all the soil below the first half inch cold. (topsoil will end up being warm, like in nature) I'm still researching all the stuff on how much light, heat etc. I know everyone says "below 27 degrees, above 0 degrees, keep out of the sun" but is this actually how they grow, or is all of this just precautions to keep the soil cold? I believe I can constantly keep the soil of my Darlingtonia seedlings cold even in full light, so do they still need to have only half sun, only lowish temps? Or does the cold soil even in bright light eliminate this need?
|
|
kath
Full Member
Posts: 79
|
Post by kath on Apr 1, 2008 3:28:45 GMT
Just because I'm not selfish (I don't think.... ) I've decided to share my interesting, cheap, sort-of-simple method of keeping Darlingtonia seedling soil cold whilst keeping them in fullish sun. (I expect this can be adapted to adult's too, if you had enough resources..) 1. There are two options for this step. They both involve the container(s) you will use for the seedlings. The first option is one of those white plastic ice moulders, you know the one's that have those indent compartment thingy's, and you fill each section up with water, put in the fridge, water freezes, your left with ice in the sections, you know, those one's. If you use one of these try and go for one's with deep, wide moulders, and thick, clean plastic. The second option is for if you can't get an ice-cube moulder tray. Just use any plastic container that is clear or white (best is white) and has those indenty compartment thing's. They sort of need to have a rim, so you can suspend the containers of something without them dropping, floating away etc. www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/376834.htmThe link demonstrates something similar to what I'm using. Note that it's upside down, and that only the bottom one displays the 'rim' I'm talking about (the sticky out bit around the edge) 2. Get another container that the first one will conveniently hang suspended over, using it's 'rim'. If you know what the 'Slack' method is you'll know where this is going, but my method takes it one step further... Anywho, suspend the tray with indents over the other tray. The other tray/container should be deep, white, and make of thick plastic. Clear is NOT good in this case, go for light, opaque colours! 3. Remove the tray with indents, once you've established it fits over the other container nicely. Fill each little compartment up with sphagnum, or whatever soil you're using. Sphagnum, I've found, is easy to cool and keep cool, but use whatever soil you want! Thw wetter the soil is the better this works, but remember, we still need live plants too! Don't drown you're plants! 4. Now comes the interesting, strange bit. For this you will need some aluminium foil. Examine your foil. Is it shiny on both sides? If it is, ignore the next few steps, and skip straight onto _____, if it's only really shiny on one side, you'll need to do the following: 5. Fold a large piece of aluminium foil in half, so that it is equally shiny on both sides, and flatten and smooth as much as possible. Now comes the hardest part. Wrap the container (the one WITHOUT indents) in the tin-foil, making sure to keep it as smooth and reflective as possible. You can wrap the inside too, but I've never tried this! 6. Now pour some ice-cold water into the tray which is now wrapped in aluminium foil, and add the tray with indents and soil, it'll probably float. The idea is to try and keep as much of the little indent thing's that hang down below the rim of the tray in the water as you can. The whole concept is that the water conveys it's heat, (or in this case lack of it) into the tray, and then the sphagnum, or something like that! I'm sure there's more sciencey terms for it, but it seems to work, and that's all I care about... 7. You should see a gap between the tray with indents and the tray with cold water... and guess what-it's aluminium foil time again. Cover any gap where you can see the water with aluminium foil, so the light cannot reach it. Wallah, you done. How it works: Pretty much it works like this: The water keeps the sphagnum cold, and since the indent thingy's have there bottom submerged in water, they should stay cold. But the problem is that water heats up, so the sphagnum heats up to. That's why we use white, because white reflective. Next thing is, that if any light can touch the surface of the water, the water will gradually heat up and so will the sphagnum...not good. That's what the aluminium foil is for, it reflects the light which hits the water causing it to heat up. The foil on the inside does sort of the same-it reflects the cold that's trying to escape back in again. Hence the Darlingtonia soil stays cold.
|
|
|
Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 1, 2008 4:01:19 GMT
I've been reading up on the natural habitats of Darlingtonia, does anyone have any links to sites? All the support I can get is good! Have you looked at the links at users.humboldt.edu/rziemer/Darlingtonia.htmlMany of the links at the top of the page to field sites.
|
|
|
Post by Alexis on Apr 2, 2008 9:32:20 GMT
It's not long before contraptions and crazy methods for keeping cool roots appear whenever Darlingtonia is mentioned!
• Big pot • High water table • Dappled shade / full sun (experiment which works best for you)
That's all you really need!
They really don't need ice cold roots and certain individual clones will happily sit in baking hot media without suffering ill effects. Running water is a nice idea, but they really don't need it, despite what some plants may experience in the wild.
Nothing wrong with experimentation, but remember that should your plant keel over, don't necessarily jump to the conclusion that the reason is warm roots.
Individual plants have different tolerances, so it can be useful to get hold of three or so different clones and see which likes your environment best.
|
|
kath
Full Member
Posts: 79
|
Post by kath on Apr 2, 2008 19:20:03 GMT
Thank you for the opinion, but I am attempting to grow Daringtonia as closely as I possibly can to the way they grow in their natural environment.
Here is the information I have gained so far, combined from various sources:
Oregon, Florence Population: Ambient air temperatures above 30 degrees in summer. Ground temperatures of 25 degrees at surface, and cooler by 5 degrees 2 inches below surface. Evenings were about 10 degrees cooler. Precipitation steadily drops from 11 ½ inch’s during July to 1 inch during January and February, then rises steadily again to 12 inch’s during August and June. Constant morning humidity of 90%. Humidity drops in the afternoon. More significant drops during the Summer. For most months of the year less than 30% of their days are fine, with little or no clouds. During January, nearly 50% of the days are fine, with no clouds.20% sunshine during June/July, rising steadily to 70% sunshine in January, then gradually decreasing.Snow in May, June, July and August. The daily low during June, July and august is 1 degree. The daily high during these months is 12 degrees. The average temperature during the summer is 10-15 degrees, with high’s of 21 degrees. Cultivation: A light, well drained soil mix is best. Those with the most success use either pure live Sphagnum or a Sphagnum:aggregate mix (the aggregate usually being pumice, perlite, or gravel). Darlingtonia grows best in loosely packed long fibered sphagnum moss. Live sphagnum moss is probably best but has to be closely watched as it can overgrow small plants. The soil mixture is made up of sphagnum moss peat, silver sand (lime free), perlite and live sphagnum moss. Place 1 or 2 inches of perlite at the bottom of the pot, add a ½ inch layer of sphagnum moss peat, then a mix of 1 part peat, 1 part silver sand and 1 part perlite. Top it off with live sphagnum moss. This mixture simulates the open sub soil found in the wild. The live moss helps to keep the roots and rhizome shady and moist. Another option is to use a mixture of lime free grit and sphagnum moss peat. It can also be grown in live sphagnum moss. It won't tolerate stale, hot roots. Soil: Cobra plants thrive in a mix if one part long fiber sphagnum moss to one part perlite. Another good mix is two parts perlite, lava rock, and or pumice to one part peat. The mix should be airy - the rock ingredients will help cool the roots.
Watering Darlingtonia is best done from above. Top water the plants regularly. This constant supply of cold water from mountain springs seems essential for the healthy and vigorous growth of the cobra plant. The plants are rarely seen in standing water in nature. Watering is by far the most important aspect of keeping your Cobra Lily healthy. It's natural habitat is in boggy areas, near mountain streams where it stays relatively cool and constantly has cool water running over the root system. Duplicating this natural environment as closely as possible is extremely important to it's cultivation as a house plant. This can be best accomplished by flushing fresh water (distilled or rain water) through it's pot every day. This simulates the cool water that is constantly running over their roots in their natural habitat. It naturally grows near streams high on mountains where it stays relatively cool and constantly has cool water running over its root system. This is extremely important in its cultivation. The root system must remain cool or it will rot and the plant will die. To keep the root system cool, growers prefer to mimic its natural environment by flushing water through its pot every day. While the plant appreciates a great deal of water, this should be cool, and, if possible, running. It should always be watered from the top, flooding the pot several times before stopping. On hot summer days, ice cubes on the surface of the soil are an excellent idea. They weren't growing in the water, but always close. The plant grows in ground that has water running through it, primarily beside mountain streams.
These plants love light so give them every damn photon you can. Light: Bright diffused light, some full sun. Partly sunny is best. Cobra Lilies like bright light but not direct sunlight. Darlingtonia like bright light but not direct sunlight unless you have something shading the plant.
They prefer cool to warm day-time temperatures and cold or cool night-time temperatures. This plant requires a cool night temperature. On hot days, it helps to place ice cubes of purified water on the soil surface. In summer, the daytime temperature may reach 35 degrees Celsius in some localities. The running water where the root is submerged rarely exceeds mid-20 degrees Celsius on the same day. Although Cobra Lilies can withstand temperatures as low as freezing or as high as 37 degrees, the optimum growing temperature range is between 21 and 26 degrees, with night temperatures being about 11-16 degrees. It is very important to keep the root system cool. Cobra Lilies need to be kept cool and moist. Temperatures of 18-29° summers, and chilly winters down to 1°. The Cobra Lily needs to go dormant for at least 3 months in the winter time. It can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but in all cases, the roots of the plant are in cool, wet ground. Darlingtonia can tolerate snow and ice, as well as hot summer heat to about 27c
Air temperatures and humidity are not major issues as long as the roots are cool. They prefer sunny conditions if in a humid, warm location, and prefer part-shade if humidity is low or fluctuates often. Plants can adapt to low humidity conditions, but optimum growth occurs under reasonable humidity. High humidity is not nearly as important for these plants as it is for certain other carnivorous plants, but a certain amount of humidity should be maintained. Cobra Lilies should have humidity no less then 40%.
The Oregon bit is gleaned from information recorded from places where they naturally grow in the Florence, Oregon Botanical Reserve. The cultivation way is recommended ways to grow them in cultivation.
Does anyone have links to sites displaying information for other populations of Darlingtonia?
|
|